Dear friend,

For me, expectation is what leads me to feeling disappointed and miserable.

When I don’t have any expectations, I tend to be happier.

Why? If you have no expectations, you will never be disappointed. By having no expectations, you tend to surprise yourself (when something good actually does happen).

I have a lot of expectations in my photography. Whenever I upload a photo to social media, I expect a certain amount of likes, comments, and feedback. Whenever I write something, I expect that it will help some people. Whenever I help someone, I expect a ‘thank you’ in return.

But often reality doesn’t line up with my expectations. Most of the photos that I share get fewer likes/comments than I expect. Most of my writing gets quickly forgotten. Whenever I help others, I often don’t get any words of gratitude.

Which made me wonder, what kinds of expectations do we have in our photography?

• We expect to get a certain amount of feedback on social media
• We expect to (one day) publish a book, have an exhibition, or become ‘famous’
• We expect that if we keep practicing in our photography, we will get better
• We expect to travel the world (one day) and have exotic and fulfilling experiences

What if we got rid of all of our expectations in photography? What if the only reward we got from our photography was the joy of taking photos? Would we be happier? More complacent? Or better off?

If you want to have fewer expectations in your photography (and feel more personal fulfillment), here are some tips that might help you:

1. Share fewer photos on social media (the fewer photos you share, the less disappointed you will be)
2. Don’t “anchor” your expectations to a certain number. For example, if you are used to getting around 20-50 “likes” per photo, don’t expect to get that many likes for your next photo. Expect to get 0 likes. So if you get more than 0 likes, you will be happy.
3. Take a break from sharing your photos on social media— perhaps for a day, for a week, a month, or even a year. Then ask yourself, “Do I like my own photos?”
4. Don’t compare yourself with any other photographer. Only judge your photography by your own inner-scorecard.
5. Don’t imagine that there will be a tomorrow. Photograph every day like it were your last.

This letter is also a letter to myself— a reminder for me to curb my expectations, but to continue making photos that bring me personal satisfaction and joy.

I hope you continue to have happiness in your photographic journey — we are in this journey together.

Always,
Eric